Spy High
by Jonathan'sAnIdiot
Summary: Max is an ordinary girl. The prestigious Angel Academy for "gifted" students is far from ordinary. It's a high school that trains students to become top secret agents for the government. Max must battle between life and the love of her life
1. The Move

I stared at the clock as each _tick_and _tock_ led closer to my approaching doom. As much as I wished that time would magically slow down and stop, the clock still sounded, as if it was taunting me. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Now before you start wondering, _"What the hell is she talking about,"_let me get something straight. A few things actually.

I do **not** have any issues. I don't normally spend every single day staring at clocks and counting seconds.

I'm not emo. And I don't believe in all of that "end of the world" crap either.

Yes, I'm in my room. I'm not counting seconds in front of people like a nut job.

Now that we've got that straight, I guess I'll introduce myself. I'm Maximum Ride (but call me Max) and I like cookies. _Chocolate chip_cookies. Now if you're going to ask me how that has anything to do with what I'm saying, it doesn't. It's my introduction. Anyways, I'm fifteen years old and I have half-sister named Ella and a brother named Ari-well, I _had_ a brother. We're not really sure of his whereabouts.

"Max! It's time!" yelled my mother, Mrs. Martinez.

"Yeah. I'm coming!" I shouted back. I quickly took one more glance at the room, _my_ room, before stepping out the door.

"Max, I know that it's hard for you-moving and all that-but we're going to have to make the best of it. I know that you don't want to leave all of your friends but I need this job I-"

"Yeah, Mom, I get it. You're trying hard to make ends meet. Don't worry, I'm not going to complain too much," I interrupted.

"Thanks Max. You don't know how much that means to me."

"No problem."

It all happened so quickly. Ever since my mother was offered a higher-paying job, she had quickly accepted it. And I was happy and all that, but there was one drawback-yep, there's _always_ a draw back-we had to relocate. Not even to a different city. A different _state_. All hopes of enjoying my summer vacation with my friends were quickly obliterated in a matter of seconds. I had the right to complain, but I didn't. I didn't want to make things harder for my mom. She had done enough for me already, it was time for me to do the same. And if it meant simply keeping my fat mouth shut, then I would do it.

"Max! Heyyyyyyyy! Max!" chirped Ella.

"Yeah?" I replied, as I climbed into the back seat of the van. Ella jumped into the seat next to me.

"Don't be too depressed. I mean it is kind of a good opportunity. You know, we can make new friends and start all over."

"And that's a good thing?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Well yeah! Now you don't have to be known as 'Depressing To The Max.' I mean you've had that nickname since second grade!" Ella giggled.

"Gee thanks," I muttered. The engine began to sputter. _Great. And off we go._

"Oh sorry Max! I didn't know it was still a sore topic for you. I mean if it helps, _I_didn't call you that!"

"That's really comforting, Ella." _Goodbye my beautiful trees. Hello repulsive oil factories._

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Max you better become perky unless you want to be known as that even in California!" Ella said, waving her index finger at me.

I gave her a knowing smile. There was no way I was going to fit in. I mean _California_? After listening to Katy Perry's "California Gurls," I was pretty sure that the "popular" ones there would be the people who wore the least amount of clothes as possible. And I was definitely staying _away_from beaches. Don't even make me repeat that line that she sang about beaches.

"Don't worry Max. You'll absolutely _love_ California. I mean there's even a beach near our new house! It's sunny almost every _single_ day there!" Ella continued.

_Oh God._I looked up at the clouds that covered the sky. I loved rainy weather and sunshine was really not my type of weather. Of course Ella was convinced otherwise and thought that I hated the rain. If California really was that sunny then I was so going to _love_being there.

"I don't know about that, Ella. I kind of like the cold."

"Hmph. Maaaaaax. Don't _rain_ on my parade. Ha! Get it!" Ella cackled to herself.

I stared at her with an eyebrow raised_._

"Oh come on Max. You know what I mean!"

"Mmhmm. You're hilarious"

"Ahahaha. You are _so_sarcastic Max. Jeez. Lighten up," Ella snubbed as she twirled her hair around her finger.

"Ugh. As much as I hate to say it, you've got a point there," I sighed.

"Yeah! I mean there has to be at least one good thing about moving away from here for you! I mean,_come on_."

"Well yeah….I mean I'm glad that _Dylan_ will be out of my life now," I shivered just thinking about dark-blonde freak. He had arrived in town when I was in sixth grade and he's been bugging me for like, I don't know, _forever._Always muttering on about use being "born for each other" and "soul mates." I didn't know what creeped me out the most about him: the fact that he followed me everywhere or how I was slightly and I'm saying _slightly_ attracted towards him. I mean it wasn't like I had a crush on him and it was mutual feelings or anything. It was just-ugh-I don't even know. The most logical explanation for this had to be _hormones_.

"Ewwww. God he was gross. Hot, but gross."

"Agreed."

"Girls, you know what I said about gossiping," Mom scolded.

"Awwwwww. Mom, come on. A girl _cannot_ survive without gossip. It's like food-a necessity," Ella whined.

"Hold up, hold up. That was _gossip_?" I asked incredulously. I had never really bothered talking about people much so I wasn't so sure whether I was gossiping or simply talking.

"Max, I'm old and all but I still know the difference between talking good and bad about someone."

_Dammit. I wasn't even halfway to California and I had already taken my first to becoming a girly girl. Darn._

"Oooh. Max might need to be called _Maxine_now!" Ella taunted.

"Ewwwww. Ella if you say that name one more time, I'm going to make sure that you'll regret it," I threatened, cracking my knuckles.

"Okay, if that'll make you feel better, _Maxine_," Ella teased.

"Okay that is so it!" I screamed as I lunged onto a yelping Ella. I began to tickle her in her ticklish spot; her neck.

"Ahahaha! Okay! Okay! Ahahaha! Stop it Max!" Ella gasped.

"Not until you say sorry!" I chirped.

"Ahahaa! Okay! S-s-sorry! Hahahaha! Max!" I let go of Ella as she began to gasp for air.

"Okay, not funny Max."

"Haha."

"Well anyways, I think that it's time for payback!" Ella yelled as she lunged on me.

Man, it was going to be a long ride to California.


	2. A Mysterious Envelope

"We're here!" chirped Ella as our mom steered into the driveway of our new house.

Everything about the house screamed "California." The small, one-story house was painted beige and a small garden had already been started near the porch. _Relax,_I told myself, _the worst that can happen is another tickle fight with Ella. _

The car came to an abrupt stop and I heard the familiar click of the car's lock.

"Max, hey! We're here!" Ella shouted as she sprung out of the car, flinging the door open. I swear, I thought that she would rip the door off the hinges or something. Ella was a small girl but that didn't mean she couldn't do any damage.

"Yeah….I know," I replied. I got out of the car quietly, making much less of an entrance, or rather an exit, than Ella had. The car's trunk was open and Ella and Mom were carrying the bags to the house.

"Max, honey. Can you help us with the bags? The furniture will be coming soon," Mom asked.

"Sure."

I worked my way to the trunk of the car and grabbed Ella's pink duffel bag and a box full of Mom's veterinarian supplies. I carefully made my way towards the house, maneuvering around the piles of dirt that littered the grass springing from the ground.

When I reached the door, I almost dropped everything.

"_Dad?_"

I quickly put my load near the door and ran to hug my Dad.

I haven't seen Dad in years. It's always been my Mom, Ella, and I. He was always on business trips.

I buried my face in his jacket that suspiciously smelled of cigarettes.

"Have you been smoking again? Jeez, Dad. I told you that's not healthy for your lungs. What if you get lung cancer? And your breath _reeks_!" I began to accuse, burying my face deeper into his arms.

"So what brings you here? Are you moving in with us!" I asked.

"Actually, I've come to bring you something. Just a little stop on the way," Dad said, apologetically.

"Oh."

"Here," Dad said, taking out a fancy, white envelope with my name written in elegant, cursive letters.

I scrunched up my face.

"Dad, no debutante balls. I swear if you make me go to one again, I'm going to send Ella in my place. And you _know_ how that will go," I threatened.

Dad sighed.

"No, it's not an invitation of that sort. It's more of-well, you won't know until you read it. Just know that I_really_ hope that you will accept it. It's a really good opportunity for you. In this economy, these things don't really come that easily."

_What?_Exactly what could be in this mysterious envelope that would make Dad actually _beg_? He never begged, let alone speak more than a few words.

"Ummm...Okay…," I trailed off.

"Yeah? Well, I guess I'll take my leave. I'm needed at the airport soon. Bye then! Take care!"

I watched with my eyebrows raised as he dashed out of the house. I mean I loved him and all, but he could be really-I don't know-_strange_ at times. I stared at the envelope in my hand. Yep. There was definitely something peculiar about this envelope.

"Maxieeeeee! Look what Dad got me!" Ella shouted, waving a brand new iPod in my face.

Oh, _okay_. Give Ella the iPod, but give Max the freaking envelope.

"Ooh! What's in the envelope!" Ella asked, finally noticing the envelope that I clenched in my right hand.

"Umm...I really don't know."

"Then open it, silly!" Ella giggled. Jeez. It seemed that her energy would never run out.

"Maybe later."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Ella, it's my envelope. _I'll_ choose when to open it."

"Pleaseeeeeeeeee," Ella begged, giving me her famous pouty face.

"Ella, you know that doesn't work on me."

"Ugh. I can't believe you're immune to it. I swear, even my geometry teacher softened up because of it. And you know how grouchy he was," Ella whined.

"First-hand," I agreed.

"Mmhmm. And that's why-," Ella snatched the envelope from me, "If you don't open it yourself, I'll open it!"

"Give it back Ella," I said, my voice stern.

"Nope! Not a chance. Not unless you open it. Now!"

"Ugh. Fine," I groaned, admitting my defeat, "Now hand it over."

"Yay!" Ella yelped, jumping up and down before handing me the envelope.

I slowly began to tear at the opening of the envelope. I didn't really know what was inside of it, but I knew that something would happen. Something big. Or maybe it was all just a prank. Maybe a worm would crawl out of it or something.

As I tore to the halfway mark, I waited for worms to crawl out. Nope, nothing.

"Maaaaxxx!" Ella yelled into my ear, "Hurry up, you're taking like forever. You're like slower than a snail!"

I tore faster and slowly lifted the flap.

Inside of the envelope, was a letter.


	3. The Choice

Or it was supposed to be a letter.

After unfolding it, I found myself staring straight at a blank sheet of paper.

_What the hell._

Okay. Fine. At least it's not a worm.

"Um. Max? Am I supposed to be seeing something? Because all I'm seeing is a blank page," Ella asked.

"Same here."

"Well, since there's nothing of interest here now, I'll take my leave. I'll be outside playing around with my iPod if you need me!" Ella chirped, unfazed by the emptiness the envelope held.

I nodded my head.

"Stupid iPod owner," I muttered under my breath.

I sighed, putting the paper neatly back into the envelope.

It was going to be a long day.

After a whole day of unpacking, I was exhausted. However, unpacking became somewhat of a distraction. I wasn't reminded of the "letter" until it fell out of the back pocket of my jeans.

_Great_, I thought. _I get to have an envelope and a piece of paper. Oh I know. I'll save it so when we run out of trees, I'll just shove the paper in front of everyones' faces and brag._

Haha.

_Na na na na na. I've got paper! Don't forget the envelope!_

Really. I was just too sarcastic for my own good.

I sighed, tracing around the edges of the envelope. Well, it wouldn't hurt to open it again. It was just an envelope.

When I was almost finished with pulling the flap up, a blue light suddenly filled the room and began to flash.

_Oh crap! Is this some kind of sign to show a criminal's location! I swear I'm not a criminal!_

I began to mutter profanities as I desperately tried to close the flap, but the light persisted.

"Hello, Max."

_Gah! Don't tell me that someone is in my room._I slowly turned around, inch by inch. And I found myself staring at a projection of a man in his early thirties. He had a full head of brown hair and a mustache in the same color. What scared me the most was the pale outline of a scar running through his entire face, from his forehead to his chin.

"Umm..Hello?" _Shit! Don't talk to it!_I mean seriously. Once I got used to the idea of having some man projected into my room, I began to get my logic back. Seriously? I was technically trying to talk to a video.

"I have heard of the many great accomplishments you have made. You've easily made it to the top of your class-let alone grade, you were the Student Body President, and you were the captain of your school's gymnastics team. And these are just a few."

Okay, so? Really was my dad just trying to give me some kind of self-esteem boost here? But that wouldn't explain Mustache Guy.

"These are only a few of the reasons why I would like you to enroll in Angel Academy."

Woah there. Wasn't Angel Academy like an invite-only private school?

"However, Angel Academy is not exactly what you think it is."

Okay now I was confused. I was pretty sure that Angel Academy was simply full of kids from all over the world that were just so damn smart. But what else could there be to it?

"Angel Academy is a high school that trains teenagers-young adults-to become secret agents for the government."

Hold up, what?

"Angel Academy is indeed prestigious, mostly due to the fact that the learning occurring in the academy is far more in depth than fore say, _normal_ teenagers would perceive."

Okay. So I was right about the whole prestigious thing. But seriously, I wanted to shout at Mustache Guy to hurry up and get to the point.

"Our physical education is much more, _physical_ than normal high schools would encourage. This includes maneuvering around laser beams, learning how to dodge bullets, and much, much more."

So to break it all down, Mustache Guy wanted me to enroll to some suicide school.

"It may seem dangerous, but after careful observations, we are absolutely sure that each and every invite are indeed extremely capable of these tasks. Only the smartest, most agile students from all around the world attend Angel Academy. It would be in your best interest if you take up on this offer or you might suffer some...consequences."

Wait. Was Mustache Guy _threatening_ me?

"If you decline this offer, then you will find yourself knocked out in the next thirty seconds not knowing a single thing that happened in the last five minutes."

Yep. He was most definitely threatening me.

Two choices showed up on the hologram. I was guessing I had to choose by touching one of them.

Yes or no?

Well, duh. I'm not going to some stupid suicide school with some stupid, threatening Mustache Guy.

As I stepped forward to click no, I suddenly tripped over a box and tried to touch something to keep myself from falling over. I felt something cool vibrate against my fingers, but I ended up falling anyways. I looked up at the screen.

"Thank you for your choice. Oh, and I would trust that you know better than telling anyone of the real nature of Angel Academy. I'll leave it all up to your imagination as for the consequences of that," Mustache Guy suddenly said, fading away.

Oh, shit. I chose yes.


	4. The Decision

**A/N: I tweaked some of their ages so their ages won't be the same as in the books JP wrote.**

"Max! Come down! I've got great news!" my mother shouted from the kitchen over the sound of boiling water.

I half-smiled. Maybe some good news would help me out of my slump. I had spent the last hour attempting to find a way out of attending Angel Academy. I had various ideas, but they were quickly obliterated due to the consequences of the actions.

"Coming!" I yelled back.

I quickly jumped out of my thinking chair-an ancient black chair covered in holes-and rushed out of my room and towards the kitchen.

"So, what's the good news?" I asked as I slowly approached Mom.

"Max, you would not believe it! I just got a call from the Headmaster of _Angel Academy_! He said that you were _personally_selected to attend! He even said that they were willing to pay for your fees!" Mom exclaimed.

I inwardly groaned. So they got Mom, too.

"Mom, do you even know what kind of school that is?"

"Sure do. Do you know how prestigious it is? Even rich kids can't get in with just their money. Come on, Max. You just have to attend!" she continued.

Oh my God. My own _mom_ was on the dark side.

"You know, if she doesn't want to attend then you shouldn't push it," a voice from behind called.

Ella popped out of her room, with an extremely annoyed face. _My savior!_

"Ella, I'm sure that Max wants to go. I mean I've always wanted the best for the both of you. I really hoped that you guys would put in your best effort in whatever the circumstances," Mom replied.

_Great_. The guilt trip. It was the same thing Mom used to convince me to dress up in a completely hand-sewn _Abraham Lincoln_ costume last Halloween. I mean what kind of sixteen-year old girl dresses up as a _guy_ president? Seriously.

"Umm…Mom, sorry to say, but I kind of don't want to go," I replied, struggling to find the right words.

"Max, you don't even know much of the school. You can't just say no without even taking a tour of the school!" Mom replied, "Why don't you take a tour of the school tomorrow? I'll even give you a ride. It's not that far away."

Hell to the no.

"Um...Okay, I guess," I sighed in defeat, my voice totally betraying my utter resentment toward even_speaking_ the words "Angel" and "Academy."

Then a brilliant idea flashed into my head.

"But, Mom. It's a boarding school!" I whined, knowing that my mom _never_ liked having her children out of her sight.

My mother began to consider what I had said. Then she spoke.

"Dear, I know. The Headmaster informed me of it. And I know that I've been rather overprotective of you and Ella, but I think I'll let this one slide. For education, you know."

Okay. So choose_now_to loosen up. But _no_, don't let Max go to the movies without adult supervision.

"Fine," I muttered under my breath, knowing she would hear me either way.

"Yep. I've still go it in me," my mother said, laughing in triumph.

Ella just rolled her eyes and stomped her way back into her room. I followed suit.

"Don't forget, Max! Be ready to go at 8:00 A.M," Mom called out, just as I was slamming the door to my room shut.

Wow. So not only do I have to tour the suicide school, but now I have to tour the suicide school in the_morning_? Things really were looking _great_ in California. If only I could tell Ella about the whole spy thing. I'd like to see how she'd react to _that_.

I began to get ready for bed. It was definitely going to be a long day tomorrow, and I would need the most sleep I could get. If only we didn't move. Other than Creepy Dylan, life in Washington was perfect. I liked the weather, the people, and how humble everything was. However, I needed to stop being such a sentimentalist if I was going to survive for even a _day_ in sunny California.

I lifted the covers off of my new blue bed and tucked myself in. It was only a matter of minutes before I drifted off into dreamland.

**A/N: Haha. I was going to end here, but I decided to be nice and continue. I feel bad for updating so late today.**** Omg! I really want to hurry to all the action and FAX. I know you want it too!**

_Beep. Beep._The sound of an alarm woke me up at exactly 7:30 A.M. I didn't even remember setting up my alarm. _Weird, but whatever._

I quickly got up from my bed and began to get ready for my approaching tour of doom.

"Max? Are you awake yet?" my mother called out softly from outside my room.

"Yeah, I'm just changing," I replied, quickly pulling on a pair of faded jeans.

"Okay, breakfast is ready, if you're hungry. I would understand if you don't have an appetite at the moment. Angel Academy _is_a huge deal."

I groaned again. Seriously. The name Angel Academy was totally contradictory. What kind of angel learns to dodge bullets? None that I've heard of.

"Umm..Actually I might have to take you up on that offer. I'm not really that hungry right now."

"Sure, honey," she replied.

I quickly chose a random outfit, I wasn't much of a shopper-or a snappy dresser. I liked everything nice and simple. Not too plain, not too shabby, not too loud. I liked to blend in, go unnoticed. Hmm. Maybe I would make a good spy.

I shook that thought out of my head. If I had even one optimistic thought about Angel Academy, they would be sure to use it and manipulate me into joining. They already had Mom bursting with excitement at the thought of sending me away to a _boarding school_. No, let me rephrase that. Aboarding school of_death_.

My mother's car began to roar to life and the engine began to spur. It was time. I quickly grabbed a jacket off the wooden hanger near the door, and entered the garage.

"Hurry, we're running late on time," my mother urged me as I slowly worked my way to the car.

Upon entering, the familiar fragrance of cookies and a floral perfume calmed my nerves down.

What seemed like hours were minutes. The trip to Angel Academy seemed excruciatingly long as I resisted my urge to fling myself out of the car. It seemed like the only word my brain knew at the moment was eject. I considered ejecting myself out of the car but thought better of it.

When we actually arrived at the parking lot of Angel Academy, I was literally sweating buckets. My mother took this as nervousness and brushed away any thoughts of me actually being terrified of enrolling in this school.

I couldn't blame her. What kind of mentally stable adult would consider the fact that they were enrolling their perfectly normal child into some school designed to torture students. I, for one would never guess that a school like Angel Academy even existed.

"Max, don't be nervous. It'll be all right. Do you want me to drop you off at the front office or do you want me to go with you?" she asked, concerned.

Well, I didn't exactly want to drag her to her death.

"Umm. I'll be fine. Just drop me off at the front office, please."

"Okay."

The car slowed down to a stop. I quickly opened the door and began to walk towards my doom after exchanging farewells.

My face twisted in confusion after I finally took a glimpse to what Angel Academy looked like.

It seemed…normal.

Or as normal as a fancy private school could get.

Each building was carved out of white _marble_. Countless statues of historical figures and plaques surrounded what I guessed was the main office. A fountain lay in the middle of a statue of Lincoln and Lewis and Clark.

My jaw literally dropped at the sight before me.

It was so fancy that I began to wonder exactly how much the tuition was. Maybe it was worth losing my life if I could live here. I was seriously losing my resolve.

I took slow steps toward the doors to the office and began to take deep breaths, appreciating the lovely floral scent that decorated the air.

Upon reaching the office, I was greeted by a spunky-looking brunette.

"Hi! My name is-oh! Oops! Never mind. I can't tell you my name. I mean I wish I could, but you know, this is a _spy school_ so we can't exactly reveal our identities to anyone. You know, the whole "don't trust anyone" thing. Not saying that I can't trust you. I mean I do. I mean I don't know you or anything but you look trustworthy. I think. Well anyways, my agent name is Nudge. I don't know why though. Everyone called me Nudge and it stuck so I guessed _why not_? And I chose my agent name to be Nudge. So what's your name? Oh, wait. I'm not suppose to ask you that. Never mind then! Well anyways, I'm your tour guide so basically I'll show you around the school!" she said.

Wow. Did she seriously say all of that in one breath? Okay, she might not know exactly why she was called Nudge, but I'm pretty sure I knew _exactly_ the reason why. I seriously just wanted to nudge her and tell her to shut up. Which I assumed was rude.

"Wow. Well, thanks," I said, clearly looking bewildered at how much she said.

"Okay! Just follow me!" she replied, urging me to follow her to different buildings. "So basically that's the lab. We use it to do experiments and learn about different types of antidotes and poisons. You know, this one time we were learning about slipping chemicals into tea when this one person put aphrodisiac in this other kid's tea. It was _so_funny! That kid who drank the tea began to grope all the girls! He got beaten up _so much_! Poor kid. As for the prankster, he didn't get in trouble at all. I'm not sure why though. Maybe because he donates a lot of money to this school."

Okay I admit that was kind of funny. But I seriously did not want to hear anything irrelevant to the tour. Because after hearing that story, I began to _consider_ attending here. Meanwhile, _Nudge_ rambled on.

"Well anyways, that over there is what normal high schools would call a gym. We learn all different types of fighting skills and moves there. Seriously, the instructors are great. Only one person has ever beaten an instructor at combat."

"And exactly who is that?" I questioned. I was genuinely curious.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure if he really did. Or if he even exists. It's really a huge rumor going on that there's some super agent prodigy named Fang. I mean every time we take any fitness exams or any exams in particular, there's always a blank spot where a person's name should be next to the number one. And of course that led to people making up these crazy theories because Angel Academy would_never_make a mistake. Especially more than once. It's like that for all the exams. I think that people named him Fang because, you know, it just sounds like a good name...You know?"

No, I really don't know. Seriously. One harmless question turned into a really long explanation. I mentally told myself to never ask Nudge questions. Oh wait! No! What was I thinking? I wouldn't have to be around Nudge if I didn't attend this horrifically glorious place.

"Well anyways, those buildings are the lecture rooms," Nudge said pointing at a neat row of buildings, "and over there is the lounge."

I looked over to where she was pointing. It was a large building, but it seemed very quaint and elegant. Green vines twisted around the walls and the brown paint was beginning to fade. Unlike the other buildings, this building seemed old. Less modern. Comfortable.

"I'm sure you'll like that place. It's like the only place we can ever relax at and truly let our guard down. Of course we take our turns doing patrol duty, but seriously. If it weren't for that lounge, we would all go insane. Some students here are already on the brink of insanity. Probably due to one of the school prodigies, Angel. The academy is actually named after her. She's practicing in _controlling minds_."

And just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder. Well, it just got weirder.

"Oh yeah. Speaking of prodigies, I should explain things more. Well basically, this school is made up of ranks. At the bottom of the food chain are the Newbies. Then there are just students. Most people that attend here are put into that rank. After that, there are the Advanced people. They're like really smart. Then, there's like this totally different group. Like they are totally beyond our levels. We call them the Prodigies. It's made up of four people: Angel, the mind controller. Iggy, the explosive genius, he's also the guy who pulled the aphrodisiac stunt. There's also this kid named Gasman, he's the youngest, a Freshman, and he's also studying explosives with Iggy."

I counted that. One, two, three. Hold up. Did Nudge _miss_something?

"What about the fourth person?" I asked, confused.

"Umm. Well actually, nobody really knows. Some people are saying that it's Fang, but I really doubt that. I mean seriously. It's probably all in their heads. Rumors just go _way_ too far sometimes."

I silenced myself after that. I began to ponder. Was this _Fang_ real? I barely listened as Nudge droned on, never ceasing to amaze me by her ability to talk so much. This girl seriously had a motor mouth. She and Ella would get along so well.

"Well, that was it! I hope you enjoyed the tour! Please, consider coming here! I could really use a friend. I mean I know that I'm kind of...talkative, so I'm really glad that you didn't tell me to shut up or anything," she said, the corner of her mouth curling upwards.

I smiled back, guiltily. Truthfully, I barely heard half of the things that she said.

"Yeah, thanks for the tour!" I replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.

We soon exchanged goodbyes and I was beginning to think that Nudge wasn't that bad. She had been very helpful and managed to give me a better opinion of Angel Academy.

Suddenly I spotted a shadow moving behind a building out of the corner of my eye. As soon as I turned around to look, it suddenly disappeared.

_What was that?_

Was my mind playing tricks on me? Or maybe, there really was someone spying on me. I mean I wouldn't be that surprised, this place being a _spy school_ after all. But exactly what reason did they have to spy on _me?_

I finally made my decision. I was going to find out who it was and why they were spying on me. And how was I going to do this?

Why, I'm going to attend Angel Academy, the high school for spies.

**A/N: Oh gosh. Well that's the end****! I hope you enjoyed it though! Look forward to my next release of Spy High! Review please! They are appreciated!**

****New chapters come out daily. However, sometimes I may not update due to reasons like I might be busy or something. **


	5. The First Day of School

"I can't believe that you're actually doing this."

"Well you better believe it."

"But, Max. Just a day ago you were ranting about how much you hated that school."

"Minds change."

"But now we can't go to the same school together."

"Isn't that better for you?"

"True."

I was having argument with Ella. It had been two weeks since I made my decision and she really didn't want me to attend Angel Academy. She wasn't used to being apart from me. Mom being Mom, we were always stuck together. Like two peas in a pod. Ella was obviously upset that she couldn't keep me away from going to orientation.

"Don't worry, Ella. I can always come visit during the weekends. Hell, that school is only seven miles away," I reasoned.

"Fine. But don't have too much fun without me. And you have to tell me _everything_ that goes on at that school. Especially tomorrow. It _is_ your first day and all," she replied.

I felt guilty. Like really, really guilty. I knew that I had to keep everything about Angel Academy a secret from Ella. I needed to lie in order to attend, and to keep my memories.

"Yeah, yeah. That's only a given," I said, trying to brush off of that subject.

"Okay," she said, pouting.

"Ella, that's not going to make me change my mind. My mind's made up. Now get out so I can start packing," I replied, rolling my eyes at Ella's childish behavior.

"Fine," she replied, storming out the door.

I sighed in exasperation as I continued my slow process of packing. I had just unpacked everything and now I had to repack. It seemed like I would always being moving to different places. I could be the Queen of Moving. I diverted my attention from that thought and looked back at the school pamphlet.

At first glance, the pamphlet advertising Angel Academy seemed normal. However, I found that when I used the word decoder that was provided, the pamphlet's words were extremely different.

The activities listed were beyond extreme. They were mental. For example, what kind of a nut job would voluntarily apply for Advanced Street Fighting? Was there even such thing as an _advanced_ form of street fighting? I shrugged. To me, street fighting was fighting. And fighting equaled injuries. Which equaled scared me. So that was _definitely_out.

However, some activities were surprisingly normal. All of the basic subjects a normal high school would teach were listed on the pamphlet. But my moment of relief was soon washed away just as quickly as it came. Of course they would be college courses.

It only took me a few minutes to get everything packed. With all the moves I've made in my life, I know so many ways to pack everything easily and quickly. Besides the essentials, clothes and toiletries, I had to pack twenty, three subject notebooks. _Twenty notebooks_. Each notebook was to be specified for every subject that I was going to have to take. Exactly how much learning was going to be done there?

I really hoped that I would be ranked as a Newbie. I figured the lower the rank, the less work. Well, unless you were a Prodigy. There would be nothing left for you to do. But I seriously doubted that I was. I had no experience in the whole_spying_ thing.

"Max, you need to get some sleep. It's your big day tomorrow," Mom whispered as she opened the door to my bedroom a crack.

"Yeah, I know. I just finished packing," I replied, dropping the pamphlet onto the mini-drawer at my bedside."

"Okay, sweet dreams," she called back.

"You too."

**A/N: Okay I doubt you want me to write about Max tossing and turning while sleeping for hours. So I'm skipping to when Max actually arrives at school.**

"Look at her."

"Oh my God. What is she wearing? Is that even _legal_?"

"She looks nice. Maybe I should talk to her."

"She's kind of cute."

These were only a few of the words that were exchanged when I first walked out of my mother's car with my luggage. It seemed that besides the freshmen, I was the only new recruit.

"Hello! It's nice to see you again. You, know. Wait. Do you know? Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Hold up do you even remember me? I'm Nudge. The tour guide?" an all too familiar voice said.

I turned around, but I knew I didn't have to turn around to identify the girl who was talking to me. Of course, Nudge. She was the only person that knew me here. Other than The Shadow. Yep. The Shadow. After coming up with a few nicknames possible for the person behind me, I only came up with that. Cheesy as hell, but hey, it was appropriate.

"Hi Nudge," I replied.

"Yay! I'm so glad that you remembered me! I mean sometimes people just don't remember me. Or maybe they're pretending. Or maybe they're just ignoring me. Well, whatever. Their loss! But I'm so happy that you actually decided to attend here. I finally get a friend!" Nudge shouted. "So anyways, let's go to the front office together. You need to go to get your schedule. And to choose your agent name! I mean you can't go around without a name."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," I said. And I really was thankful. Thanks to Nudge, I would be able to know how things went around Angel Academy without too much trouble. "Can you help me with my bags, though?"

Apparently Nudge just realized that I was struggling to carry all of my luggage. She was probably too caught up in our "conversation" to notice. Not that I held it against her.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't realize that you had luggage! I mean I was just so happy that you were here and everything so I just got caught up. You know what I mean? I hope you do. Here, let me help you with that," Nudge apologized, taking one of my bags out of my grasp. "Now, come on! We got to hurry. We only have one hour before the _real_ orientation."

I visibly gulped as I followed Nudge to the main office. I _really_ didn't want to know what the real orientation was like. I knew what I was getting into when I made my decision, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared of what was going to happen.

I had seen the outside of the main office before, but the inside was completely different from what the outside indicated. While the outside had an ancient Greek feel to it, the inside was completely modernized.

With the color scheme of blue, black, and gray, it seemed futuristic. There were rows of counters full of people in white lab coats typing furiously on Dell PCs. People were bustling about in the large building while others were sitting on black leather sofas while sipping coffee.

Nudge led me through the maze until we finally reached our destination.

Sitting behind a desk made of metal was a petite Asian lady who had all of her hair neatly tied up in a bun. Her finger were delicately typing on a MacBook. On her chest was a name tag that indicated that her name was Mrs. Hans.

"Hi Mrs. Hans! I'm here to help the new sophomore student retrieve her schedule and name," Nudge said, getting the attention of Mrs. Hans.

"Why, of course. Here's your schedule. It's quite easy to remember, we don't use the block schedule so your schedule should be the same everyday unless you're noticed otherwise," she replied in a strong Korean accent. "And as for your agent name, you can tell me right now and I'll add it to our files."

I thought for a moment. Then, it suddenly hit me. If nobody knew my real name then they wouldn't know if my agent name was my real name or not. And I was pretty sure that at least _some_ people thought of this too.

"Thank you," I replied, taking the slip of paper that was to be my schedule from Mrs. Han's slender fingers, "And as for my name, I'd like to be called Maximum Ride."

She glanced at me suspiciously. She obviously knew that my real name was indeed Maximum Ride.

"Okay then. You can head to your dorm while I register it into the system. I suppose you won't need any help locating it with the help of Nudge. She's actually your roommate," she said, sighing as she handed me a card key.

"Thank you so much for your help," I replied as I was dragged out of the building by a prancing Nudge.

I wasn't even able to check my schedule or even the rank I was in due to Nudge's "obsessive talking syndrome."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so glad that we're roomies! Now we can totally talk to each other whenever we want and everything! Well not whenever we want because I really don't want to talk to you while I'm doing my business, but other than that, yay! So anyways, I'm glad I can call you by a name now, Maximum Ride!" she said in absolute delight as we headed towards the dormitories.

"Well actually, I'd prefer to be called Max."

"Okay then, _Max_! I'm sure that we're going to be great friends. I can just tell! I mean have you ever had one of those feelings where you just _know_ things? Yeah, well I'm totally feeling that right now!"

It took around five minutes to finally get to our dorm. Dorm number seven. I took it to be a good sign, seven being a lucky number and all.

I gasped when I took my first step into the dorm. It had the same theme as the main office. Massage chairs, water beds, mini fridges, walk-in closets, flat screen plasma televisions, everything was there.

"Isn't this so cool? I totally fainted when I first came here as a freshman!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Y-yeah," I managed to stutter, still in complete shock of the sight before me.

Never being one of the wealthy class, this room made it seem like I had just died and gone to heaven.

"Hey, I'm going to take the left bed, you can have the right if its all right with you. I just can't stand the window beds. It gets me all creeped out. Like what if someone just like breaks in. I mean I know that I can just use my tranquilizer gun, but still. Creepy," Nudge shivered.

"Yeah, sure. I don't mind."

And oh I did not mind at all. I was in heaven.

I was suddenly brought out of my haze when my ear picked up some shouting from outside the room.

"Ugh. They're at it again," Nudge said, shaking her head.

"At what again?" I asked.

"The Advanced Group. They're _always_ terrorizing the Newbies on the first day of school. They all think that they're better than everyone, well except the Prodigies, and they just bully everyone below them. They're like all totally sadistic. The things they do are justbrutally_cruel_. And they find joy in it," she replied.

"What? Well does anyone do anything to stop it?"

"No. You help, and you're the next target. So everyone just grins and bears it," she replied.

That just confirmed my suspicions. Everyone here was too chicken to show their piece of mind.

"I'm going to help."

"No, Max! You won't! You're going to get killed!"

"Listen, I don't care if I get beaten the crap out of, but I just can't stand here and do nothing about it!"

I quickly began to reach for the door when I suddenly let out a gasp of pain. I let out a strangled cry as I collapsed onto the floor.

Nudge began to scream for help while reaching for the phone.

I just wanted to die, die, die. The pain was unbearable and it felt like my brain was exploding inside of my skull. My brain felt like it was getting doused by flames and whenever it cooled down slightly, the fire came back stronger by tenfold.

Suddenly, I was picked up from the ground.

I was able to manage my eyes to open enough to see who it was. A teenage boy around my age dressed in dark clothing was carrying me. Before I succumbed to the darkness, crept into my mind: _Fang_.


	6. The Voice and Meeting the Prodigies

"Is she awake yet?"

"Shh...You might wake her up!"

"Oh my gosh! Is she going to be okay? I mean I'm really scared. I don't know what happened to her. Really, I don't. One minute she's getting all worked up about the Advanced Group and then she just faints and starts to scream. It was so scary. And then someone just knocked me down unconscious after I screamed for help and I thought it was some mugger and I really didn't know what-"

"Shut up, Nudge."

Exactly what was going on here? I tried to open my eyes but it felt like they were literally glued shut. I began to panic. _Calm down_, I told myself, _I mean what's the worst that can happen in a spy school where any student probably has the ability to kill you faster than you can say wait_. Yeah, I didn't get any calmer.

"Her heart rate is picking up! Do you think something is happening again?"

"I don't know! Why isn't she waking up? I swear if she doesn't wake up I'm going to file a lawsuit against you. She's my first friend. Well, not my first. I mean there was this one girl, but she totally ignored me when we got into high school. I'm not sure of her name though. I think it started with a L. I don't know. I don't have that great of a memory. But I am a good athlete. Right? Well at least that's what-"

"Nudge! I said shut up!"

Nudge? Nudge was here? That was right. Nudge and I were roommates. We were in a room until I got that terrible headache. But headache wasn't enough of a word to describe what I felt. It simply didn't suffice.

_Hello, Max_.

What the hell! That's it! I'm going crazy! What was that?

_Max, you are not going crazy. I'm simply a sort of..err...subconscious for you. It's just that I'm not exactly you._

Okay what the hell is going on? Who are you? And what are you doing in my mind? I mean I know that this place was strange but now its downright _creepy_!

_Calm down. I'm not going to harm you._

Oh yeah. Okay. I don't even know who you are so how do you expect me to trust you?

_Max, please explain to me how a voice inside of your head can harm you in any physical way._

Okay. The voice has got a point there.

_Of course I do_.

Know-it-all.

_I do know it all._

Wow. Someone's conceited here. But that's not the point. Why are you in my head? Who are you? And how does that even work? And what's happening? How long are you going to be in my head?

_Well, Max, I am in your head because I feel like it. Not. I'm here to help you. And I can't exactly tell you who I am. Duh._

Okay. Then what about my other questions?

_As for how this works, even I am not quite sure. And right now you're sort of in the state of consciousness and unconsciousness. You're in the campus hospital by the way. And I'm going to be in your head for as long as I feel like it. Because I can. Haha._

Wow. Okay. So you're just going to invade my mind without asking?

_Pretty much. But soon you will understand exactly why you should want me in your head. Now it is time for you to wake up. You have many things in store for you._

Wait, what? What do you mean by that?

A silence followed my question.

Hellooo? Voice? Hellooooooo?

Oh okay. So it appears and disappears whenever it wants to. Great.

"Her heart rate slowed down again! Is she going to be okay?"

"Why do you keep on asking me? I'm telling you, I'm not here for the brains! See every single time I talk to you, you keep on expecting me to know everything! Why don't you go ask Gasman? I'm sure that he won't disappoint you! I mean you guys are always together to gang up on me! Oh, I know! That's probably the reason why nobody in this freaking school wants to talk to-"

"Nudge?" I interrupted, rubbing my eyes.

"Oh my gosh! She's alive! Yay! Max, I thought I lost you there! I was so worried. What happened? Do you know? Because I really don't know. I guess if I don't know then you wouldn't know either. Right? Or am I wrong? I don't know! Wait so are you-"

"Nudge. I'm alive. And I really don't know what happened, but I have my guesses," I replied, taking in my surroundings for the first time.

I was in a white hospital bed covered in white sheets. Practically everything was white. White walls, white celling, white furniture, the only thing that stood out was a boy wearing...black clothing? Well, that's_so_ appropriate for a hospital. It's nice to know that some people were already in mourning.

Wait. Hold up. Black clothing? I looked up to see the mysterious boy's face. He had black hair, black eyes, olive skin, and don't take this the wrong way but he was seriously handsome. He had this whole mysterious and strong feeling about him.

"Who are you?" I asked, looking directly at the boy.

He didn't answer me. He just stared at me as if he was sizing me up for a fight or something.

Then it hit me. This boy was the person who carried me here. The one I thought was Fang.

"You know if you don't answer me, I'm just going to assume that you're Fang or something," I warned. The boy chuckled.

"Uh...Max? He kind of _is_ Fang," Nudge told me, whispering in my ear.

"Wait. What?" I asked incredulously. I mean I had my suspicions and all but to think I'd hit the nail right on the head...what were the chances of that?

"Okay so youare you or are you not Fang?"

"What do you believe?" he replied. It took me a while to realize that this was the first time I was hearing his voice. It sounded deep and masculine. I was practically drooling.

"So you _are_ Fang? You're _real_?" I asked, taking precautions to make sure I wasn't really drooling. Just mentally drooling. God, I hope the Voice wasn't listening to my thoughts right now. I could seriously just kiss those goddamn lips. And that voice_._Seriously, I bet he could recite the Gettysburg Address and I would still be drooling. Really, this wasn't like me. And I hated this_Fang_ for affecting me like this.

"Yes, Max. He is Fang and he's real. Duh. He's standing right in front of you. How could he not be real? What did you think he was? Well anyways, can we like hurry up with this whole_Fang_ thing? I want to introduce everyone else!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Hold up. You know all these people?"

"Oh. Well, yeah. Sorry Max. Actually, Gasman is my cousin," she replied, biting her lip.

Wow. Not that I really cared. I'm just amazed because that is possible the shortest thing Nudge has ever said.

"Nah, it's okay. But isn't Gasman one of those prodigy people?"

"Oh, yeah. See over there is Iggy," she said pointing to a boy with strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"Hi."

"And over there is Angel," Nudge pointed to a petite girl with curly blonde hair and dark blue eyes.

"Hi, Max! It's nice to meet you!'

"And that's Gasman, but he likes to be called Gazzy," Nudge jerked her head towards a boy who looked exactly like a male version of Angel.

"Sup."

"And you already know Fang," Nudge finished.

"Wow."

"Yep, we are a _big_ family," the boy named Izzy said.

"Well anyways, I should leave. It's really important for you to get comfortable around these guys. I mean I wish I could stay but the Director told me to leave after I introduced everyone to you. Because you know….I'm the only one you really know around here and all. So-"

"Wait, but why is it important for me to know all of these people?" I interrupted, cutting Nudge off.

"Isn't it obvious?" Izzy said, rolling his eyes.

"Umm...No?" I replied.

"Max. Haven't you looked at your schedule yet? You're part of the Prodigies," the girl named Angel said.

What. The. Hell.


End file.
